This is basically a retirement announcement. I would be quite surprised if we saw her ever again. She isnt going to get any international assignments next year, and would have to qualify at Nationals which would be no easy feat for her these days. Maybe she wants to try and skate one last time at Nationals and wave goodbye, but to not qualify for Nationals and retire at a Sectional level competition would be a bit embarassing so it is quite likely she wont even be willing to put the work to go through that. Then again Trenary a former World Champion retired right after a Sectional level event for Nationals (which she won IIRC but still didnt skate that well to give her confidence in an Olympic team berth at the upcoming Nationals).

Good decision to focus on rehabilitating her injury. If she can regain her peak form I think she'd still be among the top 5 in the country.

I agree if she regained her 2008-2011 form when she was consistently the 1st or 2nd American in the weakest ever U.S ladies field, she could eventually work her way up to being say 4-6 in the country again. However she peaked when skating was her full time commitment, not when it was something that was a part time hobby she tried to fit as a fully commited college student. She would have to probably have to become a part time student to ever show close to that same commitment again, and there is no way she would or should be willing to do that just to maybe become top 5 in the country, and probably still not go to another Worlds. It would be silly.

I agree if she regained her 2008-2011 form when she was consistently the 1st or 2nd American in the weakest ever U.S ladies field, she could eventually work her way up to being say 4-6 in the country again. However she peaked when skating was her full time commitment, not when it was something that was a part time hobby she tried to fit as a fully commited college student. She would have to probably have to become a part time student to ever show close to that same commitment again, and there is no way she would or should be willing to do that just to maybe become top 5 in the country, and probably still not go to another Worlds. It would be silly.

I agree. It's sad to see how so many aspects of her skating have declined in the last few years that I think we've seen the last of her at a competitive level. She doesn't seem able to balance school and skating well enough to remain at her best.

I agree. It's sad to see how so many aspects of her skating have declined in the last few years that I think we've seen the last of her at a competitive level. She doesn't seem able to balance school and skating well enough to remain at her best.

It's more that she wasn't able to balance school, skating and injury recovery. As they say, three's a crowd.

Well I hope she recovers and gets back to skating competitively. I really hate the idea that her last competitive showing ever would be finishing 9th at Skate America. But I guess we'll see.

I agree. It's sad to see how so many aspects of her skating have declined in the last few years that I think we've seen the last of her at a competitive level. She doesn't seem able to balance school and skating well enough to remain at her best.

I don't think it is so much of the school issue as I believe that the nagging injury/injuries have prevented her from training as she had in past years. IIRC, she started down the chronic tendonitis issue in autumn of 2010 at NHK Trophy and this particular injury has not seemed to heal completely since then, or flares up when the high part of the season is in full swing. Flatt has had leg/foot injury issues for two full seasons and now beginning a third season of what appears to be some of the same problems, which corresponds to the slump in her results. Although it appears to be an intermittent issue, I suspect the leg/foot problems have never gone away, and she has tried to push thru the pain for over two years.

She had some standout performances....2008 US Nationals, 2008 World Junior Championships, 2009 Worlds , 2010 Olympics, 2011 US Nationals SP (and at 2011 4CC), as well as 2012 US Nationals LP! And some lovely exhibition pieces... "One Day I'll Fly Away" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" "Your Song"

I don't think it is so much of the school issue as I believe that the nagging injury/injuries have prevented her from training as she had in past years. IIRC, she started down the chronic tendonitis issue in autumn of 2010 at NHK Trophy and this particular injury has not seemed to heal completely since then, or flares up when the high part of the season is in full swing. Flatt has had leg/foot injury issues for two full seasons and now beginning a third season of what appears to be some of the same problems, which corresponds to the slump in her results. Although it appears to be an intermittent issue, I suspect the leg/foot problems have never gone away, and she has tried to push thru the pain for over two years.

She had some standout performances....2008 US Nationals, 2008 World Junior Championships, 2009 Worlds , 2010 Olympics, 2011 US Nationals SP (and at 2011 4CC), as well as 2012 US Nationals LP! And some lovely exhibition pieces... "One Day I'll Fly Away" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" "Your Song"

You said this better than I could. I'm afraid that she might be out for good given how long she tried to work through the injuries instead of taking a break from them. You have to wonder what drove her to push through the injuries instead of taking a season off...

It's more that she wasn't able to balance school, skating and injury recovery. As they say, three's a crowd.

Well I hope she recovers and gets back to skating competitively. I really hate the idea that her last competitive showing ever would be finishing 9th at Skate America. But I guess we'll see.

As you yourself noted she didnt skate badly at Skate America. It wasnt even a good event either. Yet she finished 9th with by far the lowest PCS of the field, much lower than some international journeywomen who had hard falls and completed less triples in their LP. At this point ending her career with a 9th at Skate America would be the most respectable note she could hope to go out on. Anything to come would be only worse, maybe ending with a 7th at Sectionals, a 12th or worse at Nationals, take your pick. She isnt even likely to ever get to compete at a grand prix event again if she continues, so ending it even being on the stage at an event of that caliber is already something she would be unlikely to be able to improve on at this point. In reality she would have been wise to end it with her great performance and 6th place at Nationals in February. EVERYONE expected that is what she had done, the crowd gave her a wonderful goodbye ovation, she reacted with tremendous ovation and appreciation as if it were a goodbye, then she comes back, and it is like "what the heck". Apparently the judges thought this too and showed with their very harsh scores (even considering her diminished skating quality, slowness, lack of a triple lutz, etc...) they are ready her to retire as well. I doubt the reception will get any kinder in the future.

I assume Fumie Suguri is retired now. However by the time she was essentialy forced to she had slipped so far down in relevance she wasnt even competing at the National level anymore. Most people probably dont even know what her last competition was. That is not the way anyone would want to go out, and Flatt is dangerous close to the same fate already. Or should I say was close to the same fate. It appears this is basically an early retirement announcement so she has come to her senses and will save herself the ultimate embarassment the 3 time World medalist Suguri set herself up for. Good for her!

I guess we as outsiders can't know why she pushed through injuries; but a lot of other threads suggest that skaters amongst other athletes are always doing that - it must be very difficult for them to figure out when pushing is good pushing and when pushing is really bad pushing, and then, where the blurry in-between of 'testing the limits' might be. But I remember when Rachael was trying to up her technical despite her solid and consistent performances - and I'm not sure if that was Fall of 2010 after the olympics of fall of 2011, but it was during that season that I remember she was plagued by noticiable injuries. Who knows, but part of me thinks that from there, there was kind of guessing game - do we keep pushing forward, how do we regroup and regain where I was....

Regardless, I admire her tenacity. I also really loved her nationals performances last year; so regardless, I will always remember them fondly and if I get lucky enough to see her compete again, I will be delighted.

As you yourself noted she didnt skate badly at Skate America. It wasnt even a good event either. Yet she finished 9th with by far the lowest PCS of the field, much lower than some international journeywomen who had hard falls and completed less triples in their LP. At this point ending her career with a 9th at Skate America would be the most respectable note she could hope to go out on. Anything to come would be only worse, maybe ending with a 7th at Sectionals, a 12th or worse at Nationals, take your pick. She isnt even likely to ever get to compete at a grand prix event again if she continues, so ending it even being on the stage at an event of that caliber is already something she would be unlikely to be able to improve on at this point. In reality she would have been wise to end it with her great performance and 6th place at Nationals in February. EVERYONE expected that is what she had done, the crowd gave her a wonderful goodbye ovation, she reacted with tremendous ovation and appreciation as if it were a goodbye, then she comes back, and it is like "what the heck". Apparently the judges thought this too and showed with their very harsh scores (even considering her diminished skating quality, slowness, lack of a triple lutz, etc...) they are ready her to retire as well. I doubt the reception will get any kinder in the future.

I assume Fumie Suguri is retired now. However by the time she was essentialy forced to she had slipped so far down in relevance she wasnt even competing at the National level anymore. Most people probably dont even know what her last competition was. That is not the way anyone would want to go out, and Flatt is dangerous close to the same fate already. Or should I say was close to the same fate. It appears this is basically an early retirement announcement so she has come to her senses and will save herself the ultimate embarassment the 3 time World medalist Suguri set herself up for. Good for her!

I want to be clear that I meant she didn't skate badly considering her injuries. As Nigel pointed out, the decline we have seen with Rachael was clearly tied with her injuries. That said, I think it's unfair to compare a injured Rachael that the healthy Rachael we saw in the 2010 season. That's why, IF she recovers from these injuries, I hope she will come back because I think if she was healthier she would have more to give.

If it turns out her situation is more like Kimmie's where injuries will keep her out for good, then that's just how it goes.